Deku and the Throne of Heroes (temp)
by NotXeno
Summary: Izuku was in a bad spot. He had no Quirk, and his friend had just told him to jump off a building. Nothing seemed right, until a chance encounter with an old man set him on a vastly different path. Will he truly change and become the hero borne of the Throne?
1. The Beginning

**XxChapter 1: A Deck of EightxX**

Midoriya Izuku stood atop the roof on the south end of his junior high school. Izuku? No… he was "Deku". The useless nerd, just like Kacchan always said. Fourteen years old and no Quirk. How could could be be anything BUT useless? Quirks were the way the entire world proved themselves unique. How they portrayed power. But alas, twenty percent must fall into obscurity in exchange.

 _"I'm sorry, Izuku… I'm so sorry."_

He never heard what he wanted to hear… never…

 _"You might as well give up."_

It was always the same story…

 _"You might as well just jump off the roof and pray you'll have a Quirk in your next life!"_

Maybe Kacchan was right. Maybe he was better off that way. Into the deep unknown, and whatnot. So he stepped onto the ledge, looked down, and then-

"Y'know, it would most likely hurt terribly if you were to fall from there, young man."

"AH!" Izuku was so unprepared for there to be somebody with him he stumbled and almost fell off the building right there.

"Ho-ho-ho! Startled you, did I? Well, no matter. I'm here to help you off this foolish course of yours."

Izuku nervously turned and looked towards the man. He was old, with gray hair and a matching beard. His long black cloak masked most of his garments, but gave him a strange air about. What was strangest though, was his somewhat cheeky grin he wore.

"Um… who are you?" He asked nervously.

The older man just grinned even wider. "Call me Zelretch! I, Midoriya Izuku, am here to help you!"

The green-haired boy in question couldn't help but respond with a slightly puzzled look. "Help me with what? Stopping me from hurting myself? It doesn't matter even if you do. It won't help me in the long run. Nothing can. I'm useless."

"The line between useful and useless is drawn quite thin and crossed very easily based on what is needed." Zelretch responded.

"And when will I be needed, huh?!" Izuku yelled, finally breaking. "I have no Quirk! No particularly interesting skills otherwise… I'm weak physically… I just… can't do anything. How can somebody like me-"

"Be a hero?" The man interrupted, causing Izuku to stop and give a shocked stare. "That's what you want to be, isn't it? Why someone as young as you is so obsessed with power?"

Izuku grit his teeth. "Yes… more than anything. When I see All Might smile… when I see him win… everything… it shines so bright that I can't stand being so far away from that world. The idea that I just can't… no matter how hard I try… it breaks me inside." He had started crying at this point.

Zelretch refused to lose his grin, even in the face of such heartbreak. "Boy, I won't tell you that you will become a hero. That is up to you, and you alone. But, perhaps there's some value in giving you a push. Giving you the direction in which your possible heroism will progress. How you will rise above!"

"I… don't understand… you don't think I can be a hero, but you want to help?"

"I never said you couldn't. I simply said I didn't know whether or not you would. The future is always changing, young man. What happens 100 times may not happen the 101st. Even I, who sees so much, can only guess. Educated guesses, most certainly, but you get the point."

Izuku looked puzzled once more. "You… see?" He questioned, only to jump as he felt a tap on his shoulder from behind. He turned violently to see who had snuck up on him. It was… Zelretch?

 _"A teleportation Quirk? Whoa..."_

"Indeed. I see much, young man. And I find you, in particular, quite interesting to view. What I see is always so much fun… and I had to get in on that."

"I… uh..." Izuku was completely stumped. He had long lost track of what this old man was saying. None of it was making sense.

Zelretch then… sat cross-legged on the ground? He pat the ground and beckoned Izuku to join him, to which the young man hesitantly complied. The old man dug around in his cloak and started pulling things out. He threw many things, including a few books, a teacup, and a… was that a rabbit? It was like a comedy sketch to Izuku, and the young man couldn't help but wonder what kind of Quirk this old man really had to make all this possible.

"And… found them!" Zelretch cheered, pulling an entire suitcase from beneath his cloak. He set it on the ground, turned it towards Izuku, and opened it. Inside were eight decks of cards. The green-haired youth looked at the top card of each deck closely.

The first showed a swordsman.

The second showed an archer.

The third showed a lancer-weilder.

The fourth showed a chariot-rider.

The fifth showed a wizard.

The sixth showed a man wielding two daggers.

The seventh showed what looked like a werewolf.

The eighth though, was completely blank.

Zelretch proceeded to pick up the first deck and spread it open in front of Izuku.

"Pick a card, any card!" He said, falling into the "magician" roll a bit too easily.

Izuku didn't know what to do. Everything was so strange. He had gone from near suicide to… card tricks from a random old man on the roof of his school? Eager to get things over with, he quickly grabbed a card near the middle of the deck. What he didn't expect was for the mysterious old man to continue the process with the other seven decks of cards. Every time Izuku picked a card, Zelretch would hum, or even sometimes chuckled. One time, on the seventh deck, he choked on his spit.

Curiously though, when Izuku picked the blank card from the eighth deck, the card changed into a woman holding a set of scales. When all was said and done, Zelretch pocked the rest of the cards into a neat manner and slid them back into their slots in the suitcase. Izuku then watched in curious awe as the man took the entire suitcase and tucked it back into his cloak.

Izuku looked at the eight cards he had… the opposite sides of each card were blank… what was this? What was even going on?

"You must be confused, young man. Allow me to explain. Those… are Class Cards. They will help you on your quest to becoming a hero."

The magic word was spoken, and the young man in question immediately perked up at hearing it. "What do you mean? How will this help? Please, tell me! Can I really become a hero?!"

"Your body is not able to handle the power of these cards. One day, your body will be able to, and when that time comes, you will grab a card and say 'Install', and then the class of the card. If you do this before you are ready, you will die." Zelretch warned.

"D...die?" Izuku gulped. Even if he didn't believe a word this man said, he wouldn't do something at risk of death. But… when would he… know? "When will I know when I'm ready?"

Zelretch turned around and started walking away, towards the other end of the rooftop. "When you're forced to eat somebody's hair!"

Izuku was so surprised at the condition that he blinked heavily, only to open his eyes and see that Zelretch was completely gone. Izuku pocketed the eight cards and went towards the staircase, previous thoughts of self-harm and Kacchan gone.

Ten months later… when his idol All Might presented him one of his hairs… did Izuku know… that old man knew way more than he should… and that those cards just might be more important than he would have ever assumed…

 **XxPrologue EndxX**

 **So… don't expect this to go anywhere. I'm terrible at writing fanfiction, but this is a fun idea, and I want people in the comments to suggest class cards for Izuku! So that he can become the hero "Throne" someday!**


	2. The Exam

**XxChapter 2xX**

"So you're telling me you were given these cards by a man… who knew about One For All? How is that possible? Only the principal of U.A., the school nurse, and a couple close friends of mine know about it; and I assure you none are named Zelretch!" All Might said, in his shriveled up, emaciated form at Dagoba Beach with Izuku.

"Yes, sir. He told me… he told me that when I would be asked to eat a hair, I could start using these cards!" Izuku responded hastily. "He told me that if I did before then… I would die."

All Might looked at the young man skeptically, pondering what he'd just been told. "Did he tell you what they do? Or perhaps how to use them?"

Izuku nodded. "He told me to say 'Install', and then the class of the card, which is labeled on the bottom of the illustrated side." He explained, handing All Might the "Saber" class card.

"So the other side is blank… curious." The hero mused, turning the card over. "Whatever the case, if these truly are something that can help you, that is well and fine, but I refuse to allow experimentation with them outside of supervision. Once you're in U.A., I will be able to help you figure this out."

"Will you really have the time? I mean, U.A. is full of heroes and students, showing yourself would cause all kinds of trouble!" The boy reasoned.

All Might laughed loudly before comically spitting up some blood. "I had planned on telling you only after you passed, Midoriya-shonen, but I suppose I can spoil the secret a bit early."

Izuku was shocked when All Might buffed up into his Muscle Form and gave his trademark smile. "I, All Might, will be teaching Basic Heroics at U.A. starting this year!"

Izuku's shocked look slowly turned into an elated grin. "No way, really?! I absolutely have to pass, now!"

"So long as you agree to my terms, shonen." All Might repeated, returning to his usual self in a puff of smoke. "I don't really know how to explain it, but I feel something from these cards; something unnatural. It's quite difficult to explain, but it's almost similar to One For All. As I told you, my quirk is the 'stockpiling of power', but as my shishou once told me, it could also be called a 'crystallization' of every user's efforts."

He handed the card back to Izuku.

"To those that hold One For All, that centralizing of pure power can be felt deep within you. I expect you to notice it yourself as you gain control over this power. But within these cards, I can feel something similar. The power of something… perhaps even someONE… is within these. What this means, I do not know. I would refrain from using them, and focus on passing the entrance exam."

Izuku could only nod, for he had plenty to think about, but nothing concrete to say in regards to them.

 **XxBreakxX**

Izuku laid in bed that night, look up at the ceiling with his eight cards spread. He too could feel… something… from these cards. He looked them all over one by one, and suddenly he could understand a little bit about them.

Saber, the Servant of the blade.

Archer, the Servant of the bow.

Lancer, the Servant of the lance.

Rider, the Servant of the mount.

Caster, the Servant of the arcane.

Assassin, the Servant of the shadows.

Berserker, the Servant of Madness.

Ruler, the Servant of the law.

How did he know these things? What was the term "Servant" being used for? Nothing made sense to Izuku, but he understood a little more than he did the last time he looked at the cards. All Might had said something similar to One For All was within these cards. Izuku though that perhaps he could feel it too, but only time would truly tell…

 **XxBreakxX**

Izuku walked towards U.A. High School with a hesitant step. This was big—bigger than anything he could have ever imagined for himself. He could not afford to screw this up. It was his chance to be what he always wanted, and the best chance to boot. He needed to focus! He needed to get in the zone and make sure that—

"Out of my way, Deku." A familiar voice sounded out from behind, before he felt himself forcibly move out of the way. It was Bakugou Katsuki, of course, but as Izuku watched him continue towards the school gates he couldn't help but consider how… little confrontation there had actually been. Sure, Kacchan had pushed him on purpose instead of just ignoring him, but Izuku figured there would have been more of an incident when he finally met Kacchan at U.A., so he was pleasantly surprised.

Lost in his thoughts, Izuku could do nothing when he spectacularly tripped over his own foot and… stayed in midair? Wait, had his feet left the ground?! What was-

"That was close!" A distinctly female voice spoke up. Izuku tried to maneuver his body to view her, but his floating self was beyond his own control. He felt a hand upon his shoulder, and he finally found himself back on earthen ground. Now free to turn his attention to the girl, he could only notice she was very pretty. Her hair was fairly short, which contrasted the extremely long bangs framing her face, and she seemed to have a complexion that made her look like she had a permanent blush.

"Sorry I used my Quirk on you like that, but it would be really back luck if you fell before the exam, right?" She said cheerfully. Izuku could only stare blankly in response, a breathless response barely leaving his throat. "Well, I have to go, but good luck with the exam!" She said before running and waving goodbye. Izuku stood still for a few moments before a goofy grin spread across his face.

 _"I talked to a girl!"_

He really hadn't.

 **XxBreakxX**

By some twist of cruel fate, Izuku was sat in the auditorium next to Kacchan. He knew the drill though; no eye contact, and no directly addressing him. It was the only halfway passable solution to being forced near the explosive teenager. Pro Hero "Present Mic" was explaining the rules of the exam, and Izuku ran through them with a mental fine-tooth comb.

It was a combat exam, designed to test the applicants' ability to utilize their quirk for offensive maneuvers against villains, which were represented by high-tech robots here.

Each robot type gave a point total, with the smaller and weaker ones granting less points than the larger and more powerful ones.

There existed an exception to that rule, which was a giant mechanized monstrosity simply referred to as the "Zero-Pointer". It was to impress the idea that sometimes running is okay, and as such confronting said robot was discouraged.

Unbeknownst to even himself, Izuku had been mumbling all this to himself out loud, and he was succinctly called out by a fellow examinee in the stands. Izuku sheepishly apologized; apparently the boy was asking about the Zero-Pointer himself, and Izuku had distracted him. Still, to accuse Izuku of treating this like a game? No way.

This was no game.

 **XxBreakxX**

Izuku stood among the crowd of aspiring heroes with a nervous air about him. Everybody else was talking about how easy the test was going to be, and how they were going to kick major ass. He then noticed the girl from earlier, outside the building.

 _"I should really thank her for earlier, I was so tongue-tied at the time..."_

As he moved to confront her, he himself was confronted first.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" A deep, somewhat familiar voice demanded. The teen being addressed turned to see who was asking, and saw a well-built examinee with glasses and short blue hair. "Can't you see she's concentrating right now? Who even are you? With your disruption in the auditorium, and now this, are you really here to take the exam properly?"

Mumbles of agreement sounded out from around Izuku. It seemed as though he was being looked down upon already. But that's why… they had to be wrong… because he was ready!

Izuku felt across his thigh, feeling what was in the pocket there. It was only for extreme conditions, but…

 **"** **AND START!"**

With that announcement so suddenly projected over the group, nobody really… did anything. They looked for the source and saw Present Mic, standing tall on the gate the students came through.

 **"What? No countdowns in a real battle, people. Consider the bell rung!"**

And like that, a stampede of examinees moved forward into the mock city. Izuku lagged behind, but went along with them quickly enough. He remembered All Might's words about using All For One well.

 _"_ _Tighten your back, squeeze you buttons, and yell SMASH!"_

Suddenly, with a loud crash, a robot burst from a building and stopped in front of Izuku. But despite this being his moment, the boy could only freeze in place. He thought he was ready for combat; he was sure of it. Yet, his body wouldn't move. How could this be? All Might had faith in him, he had to do this, he had to—

 **ZOOM!**

A whitish-blue laser pierced the robot just before it could attack Izuku, destroying it completely. Izuku frantically looked towards the source only to find a quite flamboyant boy with short blonde hair. He was thin, and had a belt with a glowing gem at the center, glowing from what was presumably the laser.

"Merci!" The boy spoke. "That was a good distraction. But alas, our team-up is brief. I'll not see you again!" He finished, dashing away to likely find more robots.

It was then that things really sank in for Izuku. He listened to the announcer counting down the exam timer. He listened to the explosions and bangs of students destroying robots. He heard numbers like "37" and "59" being called out, and couldn't help but feel dread. Was he really ready for this?

The largest explosion yet stopped his thoughts right in their tracks. He looked, and from the towering smoke emerged a truly massive robot. Like, really big.

 _"That's the Zero-Pointer they talked about?! It's huge!"_

Students fled en masse, not willing, confident, or simply remembering it's worth as many points as its name implies. But among the fleeing students, Izuku noticed the girl from earlier, stuck under some rubble. The Zero-Pointer would crush her.

And like that, Izuku had flown into the air directly at the giant mech. He didn't even know how he accessed One For All like that so reflexively, but he did. Somebody needed help, and he was the only one willing to give it. But what now? His legs were busted, and he would only have one chance to attack. Would his punch be strong enough? And if it landed, would it hit a critical section of the robot? Perhaps it would remain operational if he didn't hit it in the right spot. But that thought process halted in its place when a voice sounded out in his head.

 _"Use me."_

What was that?

 _"I will succeed."_

Once again on reflex, Izuku reached into his left pocket and pulled on just one card; the Lancer. He knew this was the time, even if only subconsciously.

"Install: Lancer!"

With a shine of light, Izuku's body was obscured. To those watching, he seemed to be clad in gold, but nobody could tell for sure since he was so high in the air. Izuku felt an immense amount of power flowing through him, and somehow he knew what to do with it. Unbidden by his own desires, the words just flowed from his moth.

"O… Agni..."

And the sun showed itself. The light faded, and Izuku was back in his tracksuit. He was charred to the bone, as well. His legs useless, and his whole body in intense pain from the burns he'd just gained. But what was truly noteworthy to him was the melted mess of metal that collided with the ground, causing a large dust cloud. Izuku didn't even notice when he'd been saved from his fall by the girl he'd protected, because all he could think…

 _"Did I do that?"_

 **XxChapter EndxX**

 **I hope this is okay? Lol I have no idea where I'm going with this. I'm surprised I even wrote a second chapter. Maybe I can actually do this.**


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